The young human only managed to give orders and travel recommendations to his assistants before collapsing from exhaustion due to overusing his techniques. Unbeknownst to him, he had developed the bad habit of using strengthening techniques that not only required an established energy circuit but also the necessary nodes to regulate their power throughout his body.

Fortunately, the gnolls knew the way well and how to follow the route their leader had outlined. Moreover, even if he wasn't awake to defend them, they had an unexpected reinforcement. Torel had boarded alongside Alex and was taking care of him as if he were his own baby. Although the gnolls had tried to expel him, none of them could match the elf, and he didn't seem to want to harm their leader, so they let him be for the time being. Alex would deal with this unexpected guest.

This time, they were able to advance much faster in the forest, and with the active assistance of the Fheres for their movement, even though they were carrying a heavy load, they estimated they could be back in five days, barely half the time it had taken to travel to this place.

For two days, Alex was in a state of convalescence where he couldn't communicate with the others. Even eating was a problem. However, his recovery was faster due to Torel's medical knowledge, who was able to administer medicine effectively.

Finally, on the third day, the young human could sit up by himself and observe his surroundings.

"Is there any danger? Have you had trouble defending against the forest animals?" Alex asked the gnolls first.

"No, my lord, the guest helped us repel any attacks," the gnoll in charge replied.

Alex looked at Torel with confusion. He didn't understand this person or his motivations. He had stopped his attack, then defended him, and then had run away with them into the forest instead of returning to his faction.

"My name is Alex, I'm a human leading a small group of gnolls in these woods. Can I know who you are and what you want, your motivations for traveling with us?" Alex asked the elf.

Torel understood the confusion mixed with frustration in the young human, things could have gone very wrong in that situation, and he was partially responsible for it.

"My name is Torel. I used to belong to the sacred warriors of the Kellenar Empire, but we had some differences, and I left. It seems dying one's hair pink is unworthy of a warrior, so I decided to leave in search of a place that allows me such freedom," Torel said.

Alex chuckled. "I doubt that was your reason for leaving, or that they even let you go just like that. Nevertheless, you should know, my dear friend, that the forest doesn't care about the color of your hair."

"Well, it may be that I knocked out some guards, broke some doors, broke some oaths, insulted some princesses, things like that just happen," the elf shrugged.

"And how did you manage to insult some princesses?" Alex asked, bewildered.

"Well, it may or may not be that someone slept with their husbands when I was a young whippersnapper. Theoretically, it's considered an insult to the woman, although, to be honest, who wants them anyway?" Torel said.

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"Wait a minute, what?" Alex said, confused by the sudden information. "Wasn't the Kellenar Empire a matriarchy?"

That's what concerns you, thought Torel before responding, "One thing is to rule, another is to look fabulous," as he crossed his arms.

From the perspective of the young human, Torel appeared to be nothing more than a diva, and he was starting to form an idea of why he had been expelled from the empire. However, even he knew that these ideas were silly and superficial. The elf didn't want to share the real reason, but that was okay with Alex. Trust was built over time, and one day he might learn the truth.

"So, Torel, do you have any goals in coming to the Iretar Forest? Are you seeking resources? If you're willing to fight alongside us, we can reward you with some of the finest resources this forest has to offer," Alex finally made his move to recruit the elf.

"I'm not seeking anything from this forest," Torel simply replied.

"Even so, I'm sure there's something I can offer you," Alex insisted.

"I doubt it, young man. The one I wanted is already dead," the elf said.

Alex was stunned in place. Although Torel said it with an indifferent expression, he could hear the deep melancholy in his voice and thought it would be better to drop the subject.

The elf, however, quickly recovered and began talking to him as if they were old friends reuniting after a long time without seeing each other, pestering Alex to tell him everything about his taste in women and his indecent stories with them.

Soon, Alex regretted having felt sorry for the elf, and as time passed and Torel continued to pester him with a multitude of prying questions, he finally reached his limit and kicked the elf out of the caravan.

The peace didn't last long because when he woke up the next day, he found himself embraced by an elf who stared into his eyes.

"..." Alex

"..." Torel

"..." Alex

"Good morning," Torel finally said.

"Good morning, my ass. Get away from me, pervert," Alex responded, delivering a strong blow to his liver, and then he got up and angrily left his tent.

Immediately after leaving his tent, his anger turned to rage as his body began to fail due to the accumulated fatigue and damage from maintaining his enhancement techniques for so long. Every time Alex used his signature technique or its improved version, he punished his body, pushing it far beyond its limits. Now that he had gained enough inspiration and knowledge to move forward in his cultivation, he was determined to acquire the resources to quickly accelerate his energy accumulation phase, and thus create the energy channels that would allow his body to withstand his techniques better.

Alex headed to the gnolls who were preparing breakfast, a mixture of dry rations obtained from the city and some wild forest foods, in addition to tending to the Fheres and checking their supplies.

"Guys, we'll make a little detour to one of the places we found. I need to find more Sun and Moon Spherulas. Only this way can we improve rapidly. Also," Alex said, shifting the focus to the elf who had just left his tent, "who let that pervert in?"

The gnolls looked at each other and then waited for their leader to discuss the situation with Alex.

"My lord, the elf is extremely strong and fast. Although we were able to detect and stop him multiple times, in the end, he is much faster than us, and we couldn't see him infiltrating your tent," the gnoll replied, embarrassed about the situation.

The gnolls didn't know how to deal with the elf. He had helped them defend the caravan while Alex was unconscious, and in the process, he had seen a small fraction of his power, which was already awe-inspiring. They knew they didn't have the strength or technique to really harm him if he didn't allow it.

"Anyway, don't worry about it anymore. I'll deal with the diva," Alex said, eating reluctantly in front of the elf who sat beside him to receive his portion of food.

"What's our plan, Little Alex?" Torel asked, eating slowly and with some disgust at the portion served by the gnolls, evidently accustomed to more exquisite culinary delights.

Alex shivered at Torel's overly familiar way of addressing him. "First of all, we're not that close," Alex said, looking at the elf. "We, I and the gnolls, will go to a nearby clearing to collect resources. You, on the other hand, should get lost and stop eating our food. Go do whatever you came to do in this forest," Alex finished, annoyed by the elf's persistence in bothering him.